Before this observation, I knew what two classes I would be taking on next semester. These are the two classes I took notes on student interactions.
Student interactions are definitely part of any classroom environment. Some may see these as unproductive, while others require interaction in order for lessons to be completed. There are many types of interactions, but the two broadest categories would be teacher mediated and student mediated interactions. During these two class periods I observed both positive and negative examples of the two types of interactions. First I will discuss the teacher mediated student interactions. This class was centered around a lab period, where students were allowed to pick partners and perform the tasks set out in steps in the lab. My CT did not force any groups, since she explained that she assigns seats and she wants the students to have freedom to pick their partners. In both classes, groups were made between friends and then the last couple students were usually the “stragglers” or students who had friend groups of three. There was only one group where there was 1 boy and 1 girl, and that was the last group to be formed. Students were allowed to talk to other groups in order to complete the tasks, and also to walk around and do the exercises in the lab. This created a slightly noisy classroom, which my CT was perfectly fine with. She believes that as long as guidelines were set before class began, the room would not get too loud. If the room did get too loud, however, students knew that they were not allowed to talk about anything other than the lab until it quieted down. If the students were not listening, the lab would be changed to a silent lab, and groups would be changed. No students wanted this so they behaved accordingly. The only negative interaction that I witnessed was that some students were shy, and forming groups took a long time in the first class. The last two students to make a group both were content working alone, and it took almost 5 minutes to find who was not already paired and form the final group. Student mediated interactions were much easier to find. Students in the same group were almost always friends, and it was easy to tell which groups were closer than others. Some students got their work done, and then spent the rest of the class period talking about not-school-related topics or talking to other groups. These were usually the students who were not close friends but more of acquaintances. The students who were best friends ended up being hard to have to continue working. They were constantly in conversation and took a lot of reminding that the lab had to be finished by the end of the class period. Being a 9th grade class, the topics of discussion were very far from inappropriate. There was only one mention of alcohol, and it ended up being in relation to one of the students older siblings getting caught drinking over the weekend. For the most part, conversations were about who likes whom and what couple was dating or breaking up. Overall, I agree with my CT’s philosophy on student interactions. Especially at the 9th grade level, I believe that students should be able to socialize and communicate with their peers. As long as these interactions are not completely unruly, they will be allowed to occur in my classroom. This being said, I also understand that there is a time and place for everything. Depending on the pace of the lessons in my classroom, sometimes there will be less interactions and more learning while others will be vice versa. I believe that student interactions are especially important for a classroom to not only feel comfortable to be in, but also enjoyable to spend time in.
Before this observation, I knew what two classes I would be taking on next semester. These are the two classes I took notes on student interactions.
Student interactions are definitely part of any classroom environment. Some may see these as unproductive, while others require interaction in order for lessons to be completed. There are many types of interactions, but the two broadest categories would be teacher mediated and student mediated interactions. During these two class periods I observed both positive and negative examples of the two types of interactions.
First I will discuss the teacher mediated student interactions. This class was centered around a lab period, where students were allowed to pick partners and perform the tasks set out in steps in the lab. My CT did not force any groups, since she explained that she assigns seats and she wants the students to have freedom to pick their partners. In both classes, groups were made between friends and then the last couple students were usually the “stragglers” or students who had friend groups of three. There was only one group where there was 1 boy and 1 girl, and that was the last group to be formed. Students were allowed to talk to other groups in order to complete the tasks, and also to walk around and do the exercises in the lab. This created a slightly noisy classroom, which my CT was perfectly fine with. She believes that as long as guidelines were set before class began, the room would not get too loud. If the room did get too loud, however, students knew that they were not allowed to talk about anything other than the lab until it quieted down. If the students were not listening, the lab would be changed to a silent lab, and groups would be changed. No students wanted this so they behaved accordingly. The only negative interaction that I witnessed was that some students were shy, and forming groups took a long time in the first class. The last two students to make a group both were content working alone, and it took almost 5 minutes to find who was not already paired and form the final group.
Student mediated interactions were much easier to find. Students in the same group were almost always friends, and it was easy to tell which groups were closer than others. Some students got their work done, and then spent the rest of the class period talking about not-school-related topics or talking to other groups. These were usually the students who were not close friends but more of acquaintances. The students who were best friends ended up being hard to have to continue working. They were constantly in conversation and took a lot of reminding that the lab had to be finished by the end of the class period. Being a 9th grade class, the topics of discussion were very far from inappropriate. There was only one mention of alcohol, and it ended up being in relation to one of the students older siblings getting caught drinking over the weekend. For the most part, conversations were about who likes whom and what couple was dating or breaking up.
Overall, I agree with my CT’s philosophy on student interactions. Especially at the 9th grade level, I believe that students should be able to socialize and communicate with their peers. As long as these interactions are not completely unruly, they will be allowed to occur in my classroom. This being said, I also understand that there is a time and place for everything. Depending on the pace of the lessons in my classroom, sometimes there will be less interactions and more learning while others will be vice versa. I believe that student interactions are especially important for a classroom to not only feel comfortable to be in, but also enjoyable to spend time in.